Black Friday Shopping

Historically, Black Friday has been a big shopping day for the holiday season.  Not so fast, our Super Saver says!  Don’t let those flashy ads and early hours fool you – not everything is a good deal.

Carrie Rocha, founder of Pocket Your Dollars.com, weighs in on what to buy and what to skip.

What’s new this year?

• Black Friday creep – opening earlier than ever, PLUS online sales starting earlier than ever. Kohls.com is launching its online BF sales at 12:01 am on Wednesday.
• Walmart has a first-of-its-kind availability guarantee. If you are in line b/w 10 and 11 pm on Thursday, then you are promised that 3 doorbusters will be available. If the store runs out, then they’ll order one for you and have it shipped to the store before Christmas

What not to buy?

• iPad mini. This product is priced at $329 and sure, we may see some slight discounts, but we’ll see bigger deals on the iPad 2 which is a cheaper tablet alternative.
• Toys. Typically the best prices on toys happen a little closer to Christmas.
• Name brand HD TVs. Lesser-known brands are on sale at rock bottom prices, but name brands will be on deeper discount in January/February
• Jewelry/watches. The holidays and Valentine’s Day are the worst times of year to buy these things. Demand is up and, therefore, prices stay up too. Instead, buy these things in the summer when we see much better discounts.

What if you don't want to go to the store

• No problem. Last year at least 70% of the advertised Black Friday sales were matched or beat online and I’d expect that number to be even higher this year.
• Price matching and price adjustments are also an option at a couple of retailers so you don’t have to battle crowds:
  • Walmart’s ad match guarantee is still in effect, even on Black Friday. They will honor a local competitor’s advertised price if they carry the exact same item. There are restrictions.
  • Office Depot will match any local competitor’s ad, plus online prices at select retailers like Best Buy, Target and Sam’s Club even for Black Friday deals.
  • Staples has a similar policy to Office Depot, but they will price match with Amazon.

Are there any unbeatable deals or is it all hype?

• Kitchen gadgets like Kitchenaid mixers and Keurig machines will be on sale at great prices online and in-store
• Lots of non-thrilling stuff like pajamas and household necessity-type things
• The iPad2 deal at Walmart for $399, plus you get a $75 Walmart gift card
• Prices for Android tablets are on the decline and we’ll see many brands right around $100.
• Target offers the Nook Simple Touch for only $49
• At Best Buy, opening at 12 AM, you can get DVD's for $1.99 and Blu-Rays for $3.99
• For every $50 spent at Kohl's on Black Friday (opens at midnight) you get $15 of Kohls Cash.

Who is opening when?

• Best Buy – midnight Friday
• JC Penney – 6 am Friday
• Kmart – 8 pm Thursday
• Kohls – midnight Friday
• Menards  - 6 am Friday
• Sears – 8 pm Thursday
• Target – 9 pm
• Walmart – 8 pm on Thursday